Jet engines (also called gas turbine engines) are generally designed and built robustly and safely. Nonetheless, these well-designed engines may need to undergo periodic maintenance and/or repair. Such maintenance and repair operations may include partial or complete disassembly of the engine, and removal, repair, or replacement, of one or more components within the engine. Some of the components may be installed in the engine according to relatively tight tolerances. Although these same components may be manufactured to within design specification tolerances, manufacturing variation may still exist. Thus, engine re-assembly following maintenance and/or repair may include instances in which these variations are accounted for by, for example, cutting and/or reconfiguring portions of the pre-manufactured replacement parts.
For example, in the compressor section of a jet engine, it is desirable to have balanced axial rotation of the compressor impeller. Occasionally, when a compressor impeller is replaced, the replacement impeller may rotate in an imbalanced manner. Thus, in such cases, typically, portions of the impeller shaft are either cut or grinded away. At times, the grinding tool operator may inadvertently grind too much of the impeller shaft or may miscut the impeller by cutting or grinding the impeller vanes. Generally, when a misgrind or miscut is made on an impeller, the compressor impeller is rendered non-serviceable and is typically discarded.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus that addresses one or more of the above-noted drawbacks. An apparatus that allows accurate grinding and cutting of the impeller shaft for rotational balance within a jet engine is desirable. It is also desirable for the apparatus to be inexpensive and easy to use. The present invention addresses one or more of these needs.